Geography

Intent

At St. John’s, our teaching of Geography aims to inspire pupils to become curious and explorative thinkers with a diverse knowledge of the world; in other words, to think like a geographer. We want pupils to develop the confidence to question and observe places, measure and record necessary data in various ways, and analyse and present their findings. We aim to build an awareness of how Geography shapes our lives at multiple scales and over time. We hope to encourage pupils to become resourceful, active citizens who will have the skills to contribute to and improve the world around them.

Through the teaching of Geography, we aim to develop:

• A strong focus on developing both geographical skills and knowledge.

• Critical thinking, with the ability to ask perceptive questions and explain and analyse evidence.

• The development of fieldwork skills across each year group.

• A deep interest and knowledge of our pupils’ locality and how it differs from other areas of the world.

• A growing understanding of geographical concepts, terms and vocabulary.

Implementation

Specified Geography units will be taught three times per academic year in Terms 2, 4 and 6. This will happen in each class according to the unit stated on the curriculum map. Within each unit, the children will firstly be introduced to the unit overview in order to understand what the unit will involve and to become familiar with the vocabulary that will be used throughout the unit. This will then encourage links to be made with previous learning, e.g. which vocabulary has been met before, links made to previous learning, what new learning will this lead on to during the unit in order to help the children to know more and remember more.

Cross-curricular links are included throughout each unit, allowing children to make connections and apply their Geography skills to other areas of learning. Our enquiry questions form the basis for our Key stage 1 and 2 units, so that pupils gain a solid understanding of geographical knowledge and skills by applying them to answer enquiry questions. In answering them, children learn how to collect, interpret and represent data using geographical methodologies and make informed decisions by applying their geographical knowledge. In addition, each unit contains elements of geographical skills and fieldwork to ensure that fieldwork skills are practised as often as possible.

The children will be encouraged to talk like geographers using the vocabulary linked to the current unit and previous vocabulary that they have learned within the context of Geography. Unit-specific vocabulary will be displayed in the classroom during the teaching of the unit. When the children are being taught Geography, it will be made explicit that this is the subject that they are doing.

The lessons within each unit incorporate various teaching strategies from independent tasks to paired and group work, including practical hands-on, computer-based and collaborative tasks. This variety means that lessons are engaging and appeal to those with a variety of learning styles. Teachers adapt their teaching to ensure that all pupils can access the learning and provide opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning as required.

Impact

Children at St. John’s will be able to:

• Compare and contrast human and physical features to describe and understand similarities and differences between various places in the UK, Europe and the Americas.
• Name, locate and understand where and why the physical elements of our world are located and how they interact, including processes over time relating to climate, biomes, natural disasters and the water cycle.
• Understand how humans use the land for economic and trading purposes, including how the distribution of natural resources has shaped this.
• Develop an appreciation for how humans are impacted by and have evolved around the physical geography surrounding them and how humans have had an impact on the environment, both positive and negative.
• Develop a sense of location and place around the UK and some areas of the wider world using the eight-points of a compass, four and six-figure grid references, symbols and keys on maps, globes, atlases, aerial photographs and digital mapping.
• Include a paragraph that explains your assessment models (AfL), tracking and evidencing progress processes in Geography.
• Identify and understand how various elements of our globe create positioning, including latitude, longitude, the hemispheres, the tropics and how time zones work, including night and day.
• Present and answer their own geographical enquiries using planned and specifically chosen methodologies, collected data and digital technologies.
• Meet the ‘Understanding the World’ Early Learning Goals at the end of EYFS, and the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for Geography by the end of Year 2 and Year 6.

Our aim is for all children to develop an understanding of the diversity of their planet and be fuelled with a desire to explore more of it.